Clothes-pin



(No Model.)

H. P. HAWKINS CLOTHES PIN. No. 598,342.

Patented Peb. 1, 1898.

*rares i ATENT Brien.

CLOTHES-PIN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 598,342, dated February 1, 18,98. Application filed May 8, 1897. Serial No. 635,700. (No model.)

T all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HARRIS F. HAWKINs, a citizen of the United States', residing in Fullton county, State of Kentucky, (whose postoffice is at Bessie, county of Lake, State of Tennessee,) have invented a certain rnew and useful Improvement in Clothes-Pins, formed of one entire piece of wood or metal thoroughly galvanized to prevent rusting, of which the following is a specification'.

4 The object of my invention is to provide a clothes-pin which operates to securely grip the clothes orfabric on a line without danger of slipping or tearing. In fact, the pin operates to hold the fabric tighter as the weight is increased by placing additional fabrics on the line.

The improved device is easily appliedto or removed from a clothes-line, and it is simple in construction and cheap of manufacture.

The pin may be used to advantage on any kind of a clothes-line,

or heavy coarse clothing.

In the manufacture of my improved pin it may be made of Wood, cast metal thoroughly galvanized to protect it from corrosion, or any other suitable material.

The invention consists in a clothes-pin made in a single piece and comprising a longitudinal bar or plate and a series of hooks,

three in number, arranged on one face of the bar or plate and shaped to form grooves or recesses, of which the middle groove is out of alinement with the grooves of the hooks at the respective ends of the bar or plate. The .effect of this arrangement of the hook is to bend or deflect the clothes-line from a straight direction at the place where the fabric and the pin are applied to the clothes-line, and thus the clothes-line is caused to bend or wedge itself tightly in the grooves of the clothes-pin and thereby make the pin and fabric held thereby fast on the line, so that the fabrics cannot work loose when blown by the wind nor can they slide lengthwise on the clothes-line, so as to become hunched or grouped thereon; and the invention further either a rope or cordi or a metallic line composed of multiple wire strands twisted together, and said pin operwood, metal, or other material. ates equally well in holding light thin fabrics consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement' which will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

To enableothers to understand my invention, I have illustrated the preferred embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this speciication, and in which- Figure l is a perspective view of my improved clothes-pin. view, looking at the opposite side of the pin shown by Fig. l and illustrating the improved pin applied to a clothes-line. Fig. 3

is a horizontal longitudinal sectional view.

through the pin, illustrating a clothes-line in the hooks and showing the bend in said clothes-line. Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the pin, illustrating the arrangement of the hooks.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters of reference denote like parts in all the figures,A designates myimproved clothespin, which is made in a single piece either of It consists of a continuous bar or plate a and a series of three hooks b c d, arranged on the lower side or face of the plate or bar a. The hooks b c are situated at the respective ends of the' member a, but the hook d is arranged a little to one side of the center of the pin, so as to occupy a position nearer to the hook o than to the hook b, as shown by Figs. 2 and 3. The end hooks are both turned in one direction, and they are arranged to provide tapered openings or recesses b b', which open next to one side or edge of the member a*say the right-hand edge thereof. The middle hook d,

however, is extended in the opposite direction and arranged to form a tapered recess CZ',

which opens at the left-hand edge of the mem' ber ce. One of the important and leading features of my invention consists inthe arrangement of the hook to deflect or bend the clothes-line out of a straight line at the place where the fabric and pin are applied to the line. This is effected by arranging the middle hook d to face in a direction opposite to that in which the end hooks b c face and by placing the middle hook d in alinement with the recesses b c', so that the recess d of the Fig. 2 is a perspective IOO middle hook d is outof line with the recesses b c in end hooks b c.

The method of using the clothes-pin is as follows: The garment desired to be fastened is placed across the line andthe clothes-pin is held in the right hand with the hooks downward, and so that the two end hooks b c point toward the operator and the middle hook points away from the operator. The right end of the pin is now placed across the line nearly at a right angle thereto, and said pin rests upon the line at a point between the hooks c d, so that the hook c lies on the opposite side of the line from the operator and the hooks b d are on the side of the line next to the operator, thus causing the line and the garment to occupy a position between the hooks c d and nearly at right angles to the v the clothes-line.

length of the pin. The end of the pin toward the operator is now turned to the left and the hook cis turned toward the right, so that said right-hand hook passes under the line toward the operator and the middle hook CZ passes under the line away-from the operator, which operation forces the clothes-line and the garment into the recesses above the hooks until said garment' is bound and held in said recesses by the wedgin g action of the hooks and This brings the free end of the pin and the hook Z) near the clothes-line and almost parallel with it, and the operator then pulls by the left hand the line toward him or her, which brings the line under the point of the hook b, when the lineas soon as it is released will fall into the groove or recess c', carrying the garment with it, until it wedges itself in said groove of the hook. The clothes-line is bent at the hook d in the `act of drawing it aside, so as to fall in the hook, but not sufficiently to cause it to remain bent or form a permanent deliection of the line. The recesses produced by the hooks b c d are of such depth that the line, when placed in all of them, is held in bent condition and is bent from a direct or straight line about one-half the thickness of the line itself line tighter into the hooks and more firmly As the force with which the garment is bound to the line depends upon the weight of the line and the added weight of the garments hung thereon each garment hung on the line tends by its additional weight to draw the line more tightly and cause every p in to hold and bind its, garment more securely.

Each pin tends to hold the line slightly bent or deiiected from a straight line, and the line is thus shortened somewhat, and thus not only increases the tension of the line and its binding force to hold the garments tightly, but each pin as added tends to counteract the tendency of the line to sag when loaded with clothing.

My improved pin is entirely free from springs or attached or connected parts. Hence there are no parts to become weak from use, but the binding effect of the pin remains constant so long as it is fit for use.

It will be noted that each pin binds the garment to or against the line in three separate places, which prevents the garment from blowing off the line or sliding lengthwise thereon, so that the garments will not become bunched or grouped.

|The pin lies fiat and smoothl on the line7 so that it is not liable to be knocked off, and the device is so constructed that it not only holds the garment firmly, but it also holds the thinnest or lightest fabric as securely as the heavier garments. y

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

As a new article of manufacture, a singlepiece clothes-pin comprising a longitudinal portion and a series of oppositely-facing hooks arranged on one side of the portion and forming grooves or recesses of which the middle groove is out of alinement with the grooves in the end hooks, substantially as and for the purposes described.

HARRIS F. HAWKINs.

Witnesses HENRY I-IAwKrNs, HENRY CLOUD.

IOO 

